AREAS OF PRACTICE

Scott Wenner is co-chair of Schnader's International Group. Mr. Wenner previously chaired the firm's Labor and Employment Practices Group from 2006 until late 2013. A member of both the New York and California bars, Mr. Wenner is resident in the firm’s New York office but maintains an active California practice and is part of the firm’s San Francisco office as well.

Mr. Wenner represents employers across industry lines and across borders on a broad range of labor and employment law matters, including trials and appeals, and advice and counsel on compliance and preventive strategies. His clients have included employers in the financial services, manufacturing, retail, high technology, bio-tech, health care and service industries, based in the United States, Canada, Europe, Asia and Australia. He has considerable experience assisting foreign-based employers with compliance and practical issues as they are entering the United States to commence business operations and beyond, and he works with domestic start-ups on similar sets of issues. His litigation practice in recent years has seen a particular increase in disputes centered around post-employment restrictive covenants, including non-competition and non-solicitation obligations and trade secret and confidential/proprietary information.

AREAS OF EXPERIENCE

Labor and Employment

Representation of U.S. and foreign-based clients in cross-border and U.S. domestic employment law transactions and disputes.

Defending employers in the courts and in arbitration forums, many times through jury trial or arbitration hearing before AAA and FINRA arbitrators or panels, in all manner of employment law claims, including wage-and hour-class actions, statutory employment discrimination class actions and individual claims, restrictive covenant/trade secret misappropriation actions, common law wrongful discharge claims, claims for unpaid bonuses and other forms of compensation and privacy actions.

Cross-border practice includes drafting employment agreements for inbound executives and outbound expatriates; counseling on employment law aspects of mergers and acquisitions that cross borders, generally in tandem with foreign counsel; developing compliance solutions required by the European Union Data Protection Directive; and assisting on a variety of other employment law and human resources issues faced by multinationals in a globalized economy.

Sensitive independent investigations involving alleged executive misconduct, claims made by whistleblowers, and assertions of sexual harassment, usually on the recommendation of a client’s regular outside counsel.

Counseling of both purchasers and sellers of businesses on employment law implications of proposed transactions to assure compliance with the web of laws and regulations imposing employment law obligations on the corporate parties.

Preparation of executive employment agreements and providing of strategic advice on mitigation of litigation risk through adoption of proactive policies and practices at the executive and management levels, as well as for the general workforce.

Jury trial experience in federal and state courts in California, New York, Connecticut and the District of Columbia.

Other Distinctions

Euromoney Legal Media Group Guide to the World's Leading Labour and Employment Lawyers

International Who's Who of Management Labour and Employment Law

Named as a "New York Super Lawyer" for Labor and Employment Law, 2006-2016

Named in the "Super Lawyer, Corporate Counsel Edition" for Employment and Labor, 2009-2010

Mr. Wenner speaks frequently before audiences in the United States and abroad.

He has presented on several employment discrimination topics to workshops on employment discrimination law for federal judges sponsored annually by The New York University School of Law and the Institute for Judicial Administration.

Mr. Wenner has also presented at workshops for mediators at NYU, and the annual NYU Labor Law Conference.

In addition, he has been a faculty member for the National Institute for Trial Advocacy (NITA).

Listed in The Best Lawyers in America for Litigation - Labor and Employment, 2018